Posted On: 28 August, 2018
The 93rd Foundation Course with 370 officer trainees drawn from 22 Civil Services, including the All India Services, the Central Services and the three services from Royal Bhutan, commenced on Tuesday, the 27th August at LBSNAA Mussoorie, with Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Housing & Urban Affairs as the Chief Guest on the occassion. The 15 week long Course will conclude on 7th December, 2018. The Course is being conducted by a Course team led by Smt. Aswathy S., Deputy Director (Sr.) - a 2003 batch IAS officer from the Orissa Cadre.
The common Foundation Course is aimed at instilling a shared understanding of government and building camaraderie among various civil services for smoother conduct of the affairs of the government. The Course equips fresh entrants to Civil Services with requisite skills, knowledge and attitudes to shoulder responsibilities as public servants.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Upma Chawdhry, Director, LBSNAA welcomed the Officer Trainees to the Academy and said that entry into Civil Service would require the Officer Trainees to foster values of public service. “…. FC marks the beginning of the Civil Services journey. You will get to hear this very often in these hallowed portals: what got you here will not get you there. Having been admitted to the Civil Services, you need to pick and gather what it takes to handle the responsibility of a public service life. The FC provides a foundation for future careers’’, the Director said. She emphasized that the Academy motto of “Sheelam Param Bhushnam”, i.e. “Character is the highest virtue” and the core values of integrity, respect, professionalism and collaboration for serving the under-privileged, which the Academy seeks to instil in Officer Trainees, were key to a fruitful career in Civil Services.
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said that the NDA government had taken a number of initiatives for improving the lives of people and the role of bureaucrats in ensuring success of various programmes was critical. He said India was going to be a 10 trillion dollar economy in near future and it was upto the Officer Trainees to use this opportunity to have a fulfilling career. “By the time you are Directors, you will already be serving the administrative structure of the world’s third largest economy. United States is a 17 trillion economy. China is 11 trillion. We are 2.7 trillion. Now, we will be 10 trillion dollar and of course they will go up. So you are extremely fortunate. Make the most of it. You have two choices: one is get the feeling that you have arrived but you will get much greater elation if you utilize the opportunity that will come your way. Utilize those for further enhancement of self, more education, more contribution and I believe sky is the limit and I have no doubt all of you will be a resounding success”, the Union Minister said.
The Inaugural function included screening of a short film on Swachhta Abhiyaan with a song by the Officer Trainees of the 92nd Foundation Course and was declared as best song during visit of the Prime Minister last year. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri administered the oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India to the Officer Trainees and also launched the new website of LBSNAA.
The Foundation Course is a mix of academic and co-curricular activities. The Officer Trainees are provided academic inputs in Law, Public Administration, Management, Economics, Political concepts, ICT and one of the languages. The pedagogy is diverse and involves lectures, case studies, films, group discussions and management games. The co-curricular activities are equally diverse and include short weekend treks, one-week long high altitude trek, fete, one-week long village visit, an optional extra-curricular module besides activities by various clubs and societies.
